Thumbs Up: Social Media and Computer Use

Ever wonder why the concept of social media platforms took off? What makes us such social beings? Why do we settle for, and even relish in, online interactions and daily validation via digital thumbs-up gestures and reading other’s innermost thoughts?

Sure, these questions might be better left to those in a philosophy class, but we at Rocky Mountain Computer Specialists often ask ourselves questions like this. In a world where our computers are a larger part of our lives than cars or trucks, we’re forced to think about our dependence on a phenomena like social media.

Even though social media is expressly linked to the online world, networking socially was done long before anyone posted a Facebook status or sent a tweet. If anything, the act of networking is now a hundred-thousand times easier as those without the skills to go out into the world and successfully charm others now have the same access to other minds and hearts as people who were better around real people. Plus, different online communities often correlate to applicable ones in the real world. For professionals, LinkedIn maybe their bread-and-butter, while families looking to stay in touch stick to Facebook and entrepreneurs and millennials seek to keep up with their friends, customers, and followers via curated one-way self-marketing communications (whether it’s a picture of yourself or of the sunset, just think about what you’re marketing and to whom).

Networks all carry an exciting level of actual membership, collaboration, traffic, and psychological commitment that parallels the real world. From a world full of members on Facebook to our common addiction with the website (some visit Facebook over 20 times in one day), there are countless communities to be a part of, and the ease of branching out into these communities isn’t achievable in the real world; oftentimes a person can simply join a group as long as they have a valid account, rather than if they were genuinely liked and accepted by that group of people.

In fact, the level of interaction and perceived friendship that takes place online can have positive mental health effects on some users. Many studies disproportionately portray the rise of mental health issues developed in response to a digital world and reality beyond our physical one, and these issues are surely valid and important ones, but positive feedback from the close-knit online communities we create are, believe it or not and like it or not, a large part of modern happiness.

We don’t recommend surfing the social web at work, but are happy to assist with any computer-related issues pertaining to your internet connection, hardware, or running programs that might improve your productivity or simply relieve stress. Call our experts at Rocky Mountain Computer Specialists today.